I Know and I Like You Both
by quietlykeen
Summary: Adrien wasn't thinking, he was just moving. And then he was sorry and there was only one way to fix it. Sequel to "Truth in the Rain".


It had been a couple of weeks since that rainy day in Paris when everything had changed for Chat Noir. But while everything had changed for him, nothing seemed to have changed for everyone else.

In the weeks that had followed the reveal, Adrien had tried not to do a lot of things. He tried not to reveal that he knew Ladybug and Marinette were the same people. He tried not to act differently around her at school. But more importantly, he tried not to let his feelings for Ladybug transfer over to Marinette. If he was going to love her like he loved Ladybug, then he had to love Marinette for herself, not because she was Ladybug.

And that was a hard thing to do. Especially now, when it was just the two of them with the Parisian skyline in the background.

She swiped the bangs out of her eyes and Adrien couldn't help but smile softly. He'd noticed how long her hair was getting recently from watching her in class. The first time she'd come running into class with her hair down, he'd realized two things. The first was how long it was, something that was hard to tell when she wore her signature pigtails. The second was that she was absolutely beautiful.

"What are you staring at Kitty?" Ladybug's voice tuned him back into the real world from his thoughts.

"Just how purrfect you are My Lady," Chat Noir replied truthfully. Ladybug blushed, but she waved him away as usual. They were sitting on the edge of the Eiffel Tower, looking over the city. That was what their patrols were consisting of these days, finding high places to look over the large city. A city too large for just the two of them to patrol all in one night. Ladybug went back to looking out at the city, and Chat Noir went back to looking at his partner.

And then it just happened. His brain must have unplugged for a moment because in a swoop he leaned over and kissed Ladybug. It was short, a little awkward for being Adrien's first kiss, and when he leaned back his brain did the reboot. And he looked at Ladybug, who had a shocked look on her face that matched his own. He felt the heat rise to his cheeks. Then her mind must have rebooted as well because her face turned the color of her suit.

"Um"

"Ugh"

"I HAVE TO GO RIGHT NOW," they both shouted in unison, but both froze from their synchronicity. Ladybug was the first to react, and her yo-yo swooped out, latched onto a lower part of the tower, and just like that she was gone.

He watched her disappear and when he made sure she was out of sight before he let out a loud groan and dropped his head into his hands. He allowed himself a couple minutes of pity before his ring beeped his five-minute warning, anchoring back to the now. He took the out and leapt off the Parisian monument.

He bounced over the Parisian roof tops with a cat like grace (pun intended if he hadn't been so stressed out), stopping only once to feed Plagg some Camembert cheese (and hear the Kwami give him grief over the whole thing), before finally landing softly on the rooftop across from a little bakery.

Some time ago, when he first started visiting Marinette as Chat Noir, he realized that the roof across from her parents' bakery and home was at a great angle for him to look through her window. More importantly, it let him look at her window and made it hard for her to see him. In a non-creepy stalkery kind of way, though. It was really just to make sure that she was home without anyone -like Alya- seeing him first.

And when he found out the truth, a couple of weeks ago, he started coming by a lot more. Just quick stops, innocent leap-bys to catch a glimpse of Marinette Dupain-Cheng's daily life. And if Adrien was being honest with himself, he came by to try and see her smile. To catch her laughing, or hunched over homework. And every time he saw that, he reconciled the idea that Ladybug and Marinette were really the same person.

He crouched now, on the rooftop, his eyes trying to find her. It shouldn't have taken her this long to get home from the tower, and he began to panic slightly that maybe something had happened to her on the way here. And then she stepped into the picture. And he felt a tremendous relief rush through him, for a single moment. Because Marinette was wiping her eyes with the back of her hand, while the other hugging herself. Her small red kwami snuggled against her cheek for comfort.

His first instinct was to run away. Go home and pretend that he hadn't seen this. And continue to pretend that Adrien and Chat Noir were two different people and that Adrien didn't know anything about Ladybug's real identity or the kiss on the Eiffel Tower. But acting on first instincts what was got him to point in the first place. So he went with his second instinct and leaped off from his roof to hers.

Chat Noir tapped on her window, startling Marinette and Tikki, who dove into Marinette's hair to hide. He watched her look away, no doubt to wipe her eyes again, before going over and opening her window for him. "What's wrong Chat?" Marinette asked, her voice a little wet from the tears.

"I think I should be asking you that Princess," Chat Noir told her, stepping into her room without an invitation. "I was just paws-ing by when I caught a sight of you."

Her eyes rolled, but she smiled slightly at his pun nevertheless. "It's nothing. It's stupid," she finally said rather quietly.

"Nothing you say could ever be stupid Marinette," Chat Noir assured her. She bit her bottom lip, undoubtedly contemplating what she was going to tell. If she was going to tell him.

"If I tell you," she started slowly, tugging at the ends of jacket sleeves. "You can't interrupt."

"Cat's honor," he promised her, wary of what she was going to say. She seemed to take a deep breath before letting it all out.

"I had my first kiss today," she said rather rapidly. "I-I had my first kiss and it was with this friend, a best friend. It was quick and sudden and then we both kind of freaked out so I don't even know if he meant it or if he regrets it. But it's not even about that because I guess I should be happy I had my first kiss with a boy I know but I like this other boy in my class. And I like him so so much and I really just wanted him to be my first kiss. I re-really wanted Adrien to be my first kiss," she was crying again by the end.

Two things shocked Adrien. The first was that his name had seemed to slip out from Marinette's lips. They'd talked before, about her having a crush on a boy at her school, but she'd never told him who it was until now. And the second one, the one that really shook him, was that he was the reason Marinette cried. He'd made her cry. And there was only one thing he could do think of to make it up to her.

"Marinette, close your eyes," he told her. She looked at him rather startled, obviously not expecting that as his reaction. "Trust me," he said again, no puns. "Close your eyes." He gave her a small smile, reassuring her that this was going to be okay. So she did with a shaky breath.

He stepped behind her and covered her eyes with his hands, Tikki zooming away and sitting on the desk, an approving smile on her face. "Chat?"

"Just making sure you aren't peeking Princess," Chat Noir told her. He was a little nervous about doing this because he knew she wanted to keep their identities a secret, It was why he hadn't said anything since that night. But now this secret was only hurting her.

"Just listen to my voice," Chat Noir told her. "Don't think about anything else. Instead, think about math class. Think about how today we learned about linear regressions, and how Nino tried to erase a point on his graph that didn't fit the line and didn't whisper "Out, liar" as softly as he thought he had. Think about the way Alya heard him, then accused me of rubbing off on her boyfriend." There was a laugh in his voice, but he tried not to let himself get carried away by the memories of today. He was here for her, not for him. "Think about earlier today, when we raced throughout Paris over the rooftops, to see who would get to the television tower first. And how I definitely would have won if you hadn't crossed your yo-yo right in front of me, cutting me off."

"You lost that race on your own," Marinette said pointedly, before stopping and realizing what was happening. "Adrien?" she squeaked his name and he couldn't help but chuckle a little as he pulled his hands back to his side and let her turn around.

"My Lady," Adrien smiled at her, feeling himself blush as the nervousness of this moment was getting to him. Plagg had dropped his transformation without being asked to, so now it was just Adrien and Marinette face-to-face. With masks removed, there was only the truth between them.

"You're Chat Noir?!"

"And you're Ladybug."

"But how-how did you know?" Marinette asked, flustered, her face red.

"Maybe you should sit down?" Tikki suggested from where she sat on the desk, Plagg and a cookie beside her.

"I need to sit down," Marinette agreed and sat on the edge of her bed, leaving room for Adrien too. He moved slowly but when she didn't seem shocked by him sitting beside her, he sat down and faced her. And then it was his turn to talk without interruptions. He told her about the rainy day a couple weeks ago, after their fight with the Sockinator, how she swung away from him. How he'd been worried about her because something had seemed off, so he followed her. He told her how he saw her slip in the rain. How time had run out and Tikki was there, and she explained everything. And he told her about how he brought her back to her room and lied because Adrien knew she didn't want to know his secret identity. And when everything was all said and done, they sat silently.

"I'm sorry Marinette," Adrien finally said. "For kissing you on the tower today. I shouldn't have done so without asking you...but um-I-um-I want you to know that I don't regret it. You're one of my best friends too, as Marinette and Ladybug so I meant it. And, um, I likeyoutoo," he said the last part rushed, getting it out there before he chickened out.

Marinette's face was bright red as she realized she'd said Adrien's name, confessed her feelings for him unwittingly. She avoided his gaze, staring at her hands. The silence was making Adrien uncomfortable, nervous, more so than anything else. So he continued to talk. "I like you," he said again. "And I mean I like you Marinette. I know you know that Chat Noir likes Ladybug, god I've been obvious enough about that, but I want you to know that I don't just like you because you're Ladybug, I like you because you're Marinette. Because you're my friend and you're kind and you always want to help your friends and-" Adrien was cut off suddenly because Marinette had swooped in and given him a kiss, just like he'd given her.

"Now we're even," Marinette told him, a small satisfied smile on her face. "And thank you. For helping me, and for keeping the secret even though I know you've wanted to share our identities." Her hand reached out and laid her hand over his, their fingers sliding into each other. Adrien's heart did a small flip. "I'm really glad it was you, Adrien. Being Chat Noir."

Before he could say anything else, there was a banging on Marinette's door. "Marii _cherie_ , do you want some milk and cookies? Your _maman_ just made a fresh patch," Tom asked her.

"I'll be down in a minute Papa," Marinette called out. She turned back to see Adrien getting up, his black Kwami floating beside him.

"I guess that's my cue to go," Adrien said and looked at Plagg. "Plagg, _transforme-moi_!" he called out, and Marinette had to look away from the green light. Tikki came over and settled on her shoulder, glad to see her happy. When she looked back, Chat Noir was giving her a smile.

"Let's talk tomorrow," Marinette promised. "After school?"

"After fencing," Chat told her. "Eiffel Tower?"

"Eiffel Tower," Marinette agreed. He leaned over and kissed her cheek.

"Good night Princess," he told her, heading out her window.

"Good night _Mon Chaton_ ," she bid him.

Adrien as Chat Noir barely made it to the corner when he heard Marinette's excited and happy squeals. It makes him grin in the night, just as he leaps off the rooftop onto another.

A couple of weeks ago, everything had changed for Adrien. Today, everything had changed again, for him and Marinette, as well as Chat Noir and Ladybug. And so he allowed himself to shout with glee as he jumped into the sky once again.


End file.
